650hp 355ci Holden-powered VS Caprice at the Holden Nationals

By Tas McMillan, 14 May 2018Features

EVER feel like your cushy luxo-barge wouldn’t be able to get out of its own way and could do with a horsepower injection? Then have a butcher’s at Tony Lamanna’s VS Caprice! Tony bought this beauty with most of the work already done, though he did add the Haltech Elite 2500 engine management and take care of the finishing touches. The iron lion nestled in the engine bay displaces 355 cubes thanks to COME Racing internals, and boost is provided by a Garrett GT42 turbo. QuickBitz down in Dandenong tickled the electrons in the Haltech to produce around 648hp on pump E85.

Backing up the mill is a transbrake-equipped Turbo 400 ’box. JDI Fabrications took care of the back end, where a 3.57:1 LSD-equipped nine-inch swings off a four-link, with coil-overs to control the bounce and mini-tubs to handle the fat shoes.

At the recent Holden Nationals at Heathcote Park Raceway, Tony ran a PB of 10.43@142mph. “We take it out a bit when the weather’s right,” Tony says. “It’s a great freeway car – it cruises really well.”